C i t i z e n A l e r t

CITIZEN ALERT v5.04THE BECK RALLY

2010-08-28T11:36:00.000-07:00

Here are some classic quotes I'm reading from MSNBC on the Beck rally that's going on in Washington today.

Military veteran Ken Fogg says he's here mainly to protest government spending by "this ridiculous administration." The president, he said, is "a communist."

Ken says he voted Republican in 2008 but is no fan of McCain, who failed to question Obama hard enough on issues like his legal birth certificate.

"We've got to turn back to God": Butch and Sylvia Wilson took a tour bus to D.C. with 50 other attendees from Harwood, Ga. this morning.

"He's just a puppy," Sylvia adds about Obama, "there's all kinds of people pulling his strings. Unions, George Soros, all the people in the administration."

CITIZEN ALERT v5.03THE POLICE CAN SECRETLY TRACK YOU

2010-08-27T05:11:00.000-07:00

From CNN:

Law enforcement officers may secretly place a GPS device on a person's car without seeking a warrant from a judge, according to a recent federal appeals court ruling in California.

This would fall under the category of WTF?!!!! See link for story.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/08/27/oregon.gps.surveillance/index.html?hpt=T1

CITIZEN ALERT v5.02CONTRADICTIONS CONTINUE IN GOP

2010-08-26T05:25:00.000-07:00

Ken Mehlman, President Bush's campaign manager in 2004 and a former chairman of the Republican National Committee, has told family and associates that he is gay, The Atlantic magazine's politics editor reported Wednesday.

See full story on MSNBC:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38857056/ns/politics-more_politics/

CITIZEN ALERT v5.01B CORPS

2010-08-23T17:20:00.001-07:00

Interesting article on B Corps that a friend pointed the way to in Esquire by John H. Richardson this week. Check it out. It's a quick read on Americas move from Shareholder Capitalism toward Stakeholder Capitalism.

http://www.esquire.com/blogs/politics/b-corp-082310?src=rss

CITIZEN ALERT v4.07BP DOES BUSINESS RIGHT

2010-06-26T16:31:00.000-07:00

CITIZEN ALERT v4.06THE GRAY VIEW

2010-02-15T19:39:00.001-08:00

I've often told people not to look at the world in such a black and white, wrong and right point of view. The world is a huge place, full of an enormous amount of people, all trying to survive, each with a bag full of issues that overlap into other peoples issues. One issue affecting directly or indirectly the outcome of another issue immediately or in some lagging fashion.

The world is gray. This makes it a terribly difficult place to make one's voice heard over the static so to cut through all the white noise, issues can be distilled down to a more concise presentation and displayed in a more black and white manner. This is how politicians have been communicating to you since, well, forever. One can not go on TV and hope to convey the fullness that is the drug industry/drug economics and have most people understand it or want to even pay attention. It's much easier to just declare "war" on it, and leave it at that. THAT you can put on a poster. THAT you can get a sound bite off of. THAT might get you votes.

Abortion - you're either for it or against it. Those are your only two choices. There is no thinking to be done outside the box. That would involve time and another check box on the ballot.

I thought I had this in my head safe and sound, but I was reminded how tricky it is sometimes and how stupid I can be and let something slip past me as I was watching a debate between Michael Shermer and Dinesh D'Souza on the questions Is Religion a Force for Good or Evil? and Can you be Good without God? Both of them pointed out that these battles between religions while seemingly in the name of religion are in fact not. Usually, it's simply about land.

In my head, I instantly jumped to some friendly debates I had been having on the internet where I was arguing that terrible things had been done in the name of Christianity as much as they had with Islam. This is wrong. This is me falling for the black and white presentations and then spitting it back out again. Now I just felt like an idiot.

I remember when the US went into Afghanistan and we had Bin Laden on the run. I thought this guy was a terrible man, a lunatic, but a lunatic that had beliefs he was willing to back up. Then I heard the reports of him and Omar fleeing through Tora Bora radioing to their followers to martyr themselves against the American forces. I remember thinking, well why isn't HE martyring himself? It's because he's a fake. A complete fake. He didn't really believe in what he was doing because he had other issues he was actually fighting for. Land, Saudi Arabia, politics, power. These were too complex to convey to the masses and far too greedy to find followers, so they were presented in Black and White - Islam vs. Christianity, Muslims vs. Americans.

Back at home our then "president", a couple of years later would tell this enemy to "bring it on". Easy for him to say standing on the other side of the world in an air conditioned Oval Office surrounding by luxury while some 18 yr old is dodging gun fire for him. He was a fake too. What his administration wanted could not be explained in a manner that would facilitate the funds needed to carry out their issues. Black and White.

When you hear of a suicide bomber, it is another radical Muslim battling America. Is it? Or is it more complicated than that? Is it a person so poor, believing that they're going to heaven anyway that they'll provide their family with some money because someone else willing to put up the money has yet another issue of their own that they are trying to resolve but didn't feel that blowing themselves up would get it done for them. Maybe they want the Americans or NATO off their property but it's more important that they still be around when they leave. Anything could be happening, but what's NOT happening is no one is running into the battlefield screaming Muhammad is better than Jesus or Jesus is better than Muhammad.

I will not fall for it anymore. I slipped up. I thought I had my lenses set to filter out the black and the white but apparently there are some good salesmen out there and they got even me pitching their line for them. No more.

CITIZEN ALERT v4.05RUSH LIMBAUGH SUPPORTS OBAMACARE

2010-01-05T21:37:00.000-08:00

I love this story out of the SEIU blog. Awesome!

January 4, 2010
Hell Freezes Over: Rush Limbaugh Loves Union Hospitals and Socialized Medicine
By Jessica Kutch

Over the past year of Obama's presidency, conservative blowhard Rush Limbaugh has routinely mocked, distorted and even invented various health insurance reform proposals before Congress. Given Limbaugh's blanket opposition to the new administration (recall Limbaugh's public confession, "I want [Obama] to fail"), it's hard to take Limbaugh's incessant fear-mongering seriously - or even tune in it at all. That was the case, however, until Limbaugh used his recent emergency hospital visit to show that the U.S. health care system is "working just fine."

On December 30th, Rush Limbaugh underwent an angiogram at Queen's Medical Center in Honolulu after complaining of sharp chest pains. When Limbaugh exited the hospital on New Year's Day, he told reporters, "They found absolutely nothing wrong. It was a blessing. No arterial disease, no coronary disease whatsoever."

Limbaugh then turned to health care reform, citing his Honolulu experience as evidence that the health care system doesn't need fixing:

"Based on what happened to me here, I don't think there is one thing wrong with the American health care system. It is working just fine, just dandy."

We're thrilled to hear that Limbaugh appreciates Hawaii's exemplary health care system.

Here's why:

1. Hawaii is a shining example of progressive health care reform. In fact, Hawaii is so forward-thinking that the Senate bill excludes Hawaii from some of its provisions, because Hawaii's requirements on employers go farther than the federal legislation.

* Since 1974, Hawaii has required all employers to provide quality health care benefits to any employee who works 20 hours a week or more. Because of Hawaii's increased coverage, reports the New York Times, "hospital and insurance executives in Hawaii say they have been able to innovate efficiencies. For instance, the state's top three medical providers are adopting electronic medical records -- years ahead of most mainland counterparts."
* One reporter noted "the medical system in Hawaii is as close to socialized medicine as there is in the United States, and, much of the Democrats reform bill is based in the Hawaii system."

2. Limbaugh stayed at Queen's Medical Center, where nursing staff are represented by the Hawaii Nurses' Association (read: a labor union). The nurses at Queen's are protected by their contract, which adheres to the ANA's safe-staffing principles guaranteeing appropriate staffing levels for any patient care unit.

In fact, Hawaii has one of the greatest percentages of organized workers of any state and also had the highest percentage of organized RNs. All private-sector acute care hospital RNs are organized, with just two known exceptions. We're guessing this might have something to do with why Limbaugh found the Hawaii hospital staff's work so "confidence-inspiring."

When Limbaugh was released from Queen's Medical Center, he cheerily noted, "The treatment I received here was the best that the world has to offer."

Whether he realized it or not, Limbaugh was praising the care he received from union nurses in one of the country's most progressive health care systems. On behalf of the labor movement and health reform advocates everywhere, THANKS FOR YOUR SUPPORT, Rush!

CITIZEN ALERT v4.04OIL SUPPLY GROWTH

2009-12-27T00:06:00.000-08:00

Oil Supply Set to Grow Through 2030 with No Peak Evident
IHS CERA 11/17/2009
URL: http://www.rigzone.com/news/article.asp?a_id=82528

Global oil productive capacity will grow though 2030 with no evidence of a peak of supply before that time, according to a new report by IHS Cambridge Energy Research Associates based on analysis of more than 10,000 projects around the globe.

The report, The Future of Global Oil Supply: Understanding the Building Blocks extends IHS CERA's global oil outlook through 2030 and expects global oil productive capacity to grow to as much as 115 million barrels per day (mbd) through that period from the current level of 92 mbd -- a 25 percent increase. Post-2030 supply could struggle to meet demand but this would take the form of a decades-long "undulating plateau" rather than a sharp fall, the report says.

"There is more than an adequate inventory of physical resources available to increase supply to meet anticipated levels of demand through 2030," said Peter Jackson. "It would be easy to interpret the market and oil price trends from 2003 through 2009 in isolation to support the belief that a peak in global supply has passed or is imminent. But this only illustrates that the market continues to act as the shock absorber of major volatility."

Sixty percent of the more than 1,000 fields examined in detail for the study were found to have production levels that were either steady or climbing. When taking into account the production of these fields the global aggregate decline rate of all fields currently in production is estimated to be 4.5 percent, the study finds.

"Supply evolution through 2030 is not a question of resource availability," Jackson added. "The crucial issue lies not belowground. It is the aboveground factors that will dictate the ultimate shape of the supply curve."

Key aboveground factors such as global economic growth, the capability of the upstream oil industry, costs, government policies on access to reserves and taxation, the evolution of renewable alternative energy sources and the effect of climate change issues on policy concerning the use of fossil fuels will have a major impact on the shape of supply, the report finds.

"A radically different oil markets landscape has evolved in the past year," said Jackson. "A drop in demand caused by the economic recession has provided a supply cushion that has moved supply concerns to the backburner for the next few years."

While the economic recession has also driven a reduction in exploration and production investment, exploration and field upgrades have tended to replace global production of 30 billion new barrels (bnb) per annum in recent years. Despite recessionary pressures the first three quarters of 2009 have produced discoveries with collective reserves more than 8bnb. This does not include the revisions and extensions which are so important to reserves growth. Multi-billion barrel discoveries, such as those of the Subsalt Brazil, as well as those in Offshore West Africa and Offshore East Africa, continue to emerge. And new giant discoveries in Iraq also create the potential for that country to double its capacity by 2020, the report finds.

The peaking of global oil demand -- rather than scale and deliverability of below ground resources -- could have a major impact on the flow of supply, the report finds. IHS CERA's analysis finds that oil demand has already peaked in developed countries.

"So much will happen between now and 2030 to affect demand -- from changes in the automobile engine and the electric battery to changes in demographics and values," said Jackson. "Peak demand may ultimately prove to be the main driver of long-term supply."

CITIZEN ALERT v4.03A WORLD OF REASON

2009-12-18T02:04:00.000-08:00

CITIZEN ALERT v4.02OBAMA THE POSER

2009-12-17T10:02:00.000-08:00

This is why I was always a bit cautious of Obama. FROM MSNBC:

The federal government quietly agreed to forgo billions of dollars in potential tax payments from Citigroup as part of the deal announced this week to wean the company from the massive taxpayer bailout that helped it survive the financial crisis.

The Internal Revenue Service on Friday issued an exception to long-standing tax rules for the benefit of Citigroup and a few other companies partially owned by the government. As a result, Citigroup will be allowed to retain billions of dollars worth of tax breaks that otherwise would decline in value when the government sells its stake to private investors.

While the Obama administration has said taxpayers are likely to profit from the sale of the Citigroup shares, accounting experts said the lost tax revenue could easily outstrip those profits.

Read the rest of the story here

CITIZEN ALERT v4.01BOBOT ADRENALINE INPASADENA WEEKLY

2009-12-16T10:06:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago BOBOT ADRENALINE made the cover story in the PASADENA WEEKLY. Check out the story at the click:

CLICK HERE FOR THE STORY

CITIZEN ALERT v3.296IT'S SHOE TIME!

2008-12-14T14:18:00.000-08:00

CITIZEN ALERT v3.295HR 1531

2008-11-30T13:57:00.000-08:00

Dear Representative,

I urge you to co-sponsor Rep. Jerrold Nadler's H.Res. 1531 urging President Bush not to pardon senior members of his administration for crimes authorized by the President - and to investigate those crimes both in the House and the Justice Department, and prosecute if warranted.

(1) it is the sense of the House of Representatives that the granting of preemptive pardons by the President to senior officials of his administration for acts they may have taken in the course of their official duties is a dangerous abuse of the pardon power;

(2) it is the sense of the House of Representatives that the President should not grant preemptive pardons to senior officials in his administration for acts they may have taken in the course of their official duties;

(3) it is the sense of the House of Representatives that James Madison was correct in his observation that "[i]f the President be connected, in any suspicious manner, with any person, and there be grounds [to] believe he will shelter him, the House of Representatives can impeach him; they can remove him if found guilty";

(4) it is the sense of the House of Representatives that a special investigative commission, or a Select Committee be tasked with investigating possible illegal activities by senior officials of the administration of President George W. Bush, including, if necessary, any abuse of the President's pardon power; and

(5) the next Attorney General of the United States appoint an independent counsel to investigate, and, where appropriate, prosecute illegal acts by senior officials of the administration of President George W. Bush.

Sincerely,

SIGN THE PETITION HERE

CITIZEN ALERT v3.294THE "O" DEAL

2008-11-24T07:14:00.000-08:00

Today President Elect Obama is planning on unveiling his Economic Dream team to get us out of this mess with an "infusion of money for infrastructure projects, new environmental technologies and tax cuts for low- and middle-income taxpayers." The DOW is currently up 240 points, let's see how it reacts to Obama's "New Deal" by close of day.

It's already gotten a preliminary thumbs up from appointments of Timothy Geithner as treasury secretary and Lawrence Summers as head of the National Economic Council as well as New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson as his commerce secretary. Look for Congress to have a recovery package all laid out for him to sign the moment he steps into the White House on Day 1.

CITIZEN ALERT v3.293MOLES??

2008-11-20T07:24:00.000-08:00

This today from the NO FEAR INSTITUTE:

Coleman-Adebayo is a senior policy analyst and whistleblower at the EPA. She has recently received a notice of proposed removal. Congressman Chris Van Hollen has written a letter to EPA administrator Stephen Johnson, stating: "Given that Dr. Coleman-Adebayo has several complaints currently pending against the EPA ... I urge you to reconsider the Notice of Proposed Removal ..." Coleman-Adebayo is president of the No Fear Institute. She said today: "[The Bush administration is] embedding their foot soldiers inside the government in order to sabotage any Obama initiatives while at the same time terminating federal employees who they assume would be supportive of the new administration." Coleman-Adebayo is in contact with many other current and former government whistleblowers.

CITIZEN ALERT v3.292PROP 8

2008-11-08T16:22:00.001-08:00

Well with CITIZEN ALERT in its 3rd year a slower year by far for posts as I have been extremely busy, I just wanted to take this time to say, yea, Obama won! Never my first choice for President, but I'm glad he has Biden on board with him and he truly has a gift for pumping people up and inspiring people to change things so I am 100% behind him. And the moment I see him screw up I will be the first to throw the hammer down.

Things are a little crazy in California because of Prop 8 passing. When are people going to recognize that California is one giant RED STATE in disguise. So, here's CITIZEN ALERT's take on all the hoo ha.

First off, I voted No on PROP 8. Second off, I really hate having to vote either way cause I don't like either side's position entirely. I think gay people MUST enjoy the same rights and privileges allotted to everyone by the U.S. Constitution, period. Having said that, I am a HUGE, and I mean HUUUGE, believer in separation of Church and State. HUGE!! And this is where the Prop 8 vote gets messy for me.

California has domestic partnerships (DP) that afford rights to same sex couples like a married heterosexual couple would have although just by the fact that they can list these rights on a page makes me think they forgot a few. The problem with people saying that "gays don't need marriage they have domestic partnerships" is like saying 1) they don't need my drinking fountain they have their own and 2) the Federal Government doesn't recognize the DP. If you're married in California, you're married everywhere you go, not so with a DP. That's not equal guys.

For people, like my bass player, Corey, who think the kids are going to get picked on at school because their parents are gay and we have to "save" the children, well for one, my parents were quite heterosexual Southern Baptists and I don't think anyone in history was more picked on in school than me, so that argument doesn't work. Not to mention the fact that even if you outlaw gay marriage, that doesn't stop them from having kids, but when they split up just like heterosexual couples do, then you've created a giant mess of legal problems and serious strife for the kids.

So, now for the other side. The homosexual community that insists on being "married". WHY?!!!!!!!!!!! REALLY!!?!?!? WHY!?!?!?!!?!? You know I get it as it stands now. Separate but equal, I get it, but seriously WHY?!! The term marriage is a religious term. It has biblical roots. Why would you insist on being "recognized" by a sect of society using their terminology that really really hates you? It's like gay people marching into a church and insisting that the church rewrite the Bible so that it says being gay is okay! They have a right to be idiots; they're not changing anything so why try? It makes it seem like instead of standing up for your rights you are attacking religion.

Here's the way it SHOULD be and I've been saying this for years. EVERY COUPLE should be required to have a civil union recognized by the Federal government. When you go down to City Hall you get a Civil Union license NOT a marriage license. Our government blurred the line between church and state when they put the word MARRIAGE on a government document. Now after you get your civil union license, if you want to get married too, then yea!! I'm thrilled, go do it, go to your church and get married, I'll come and throw rice but the Federal Government SHOULD NOT CARE. It should only recognize civil unions for heterosexuals AND homosexuals. THAT IS EQUAL.

Now, is the federal government going to yank the word marriage off the document? NO! So, then we have to unfortunately fight for homosexuals to be "married". Makes no sense to me, but I will support it because those same rights that married heterosexuals have that are recognized in EVERY state must be the same for EVERY AMERICAN. Doesn't matter that the majority of people voted to give certain Americans more civil rights than other Americans, that's why we have courts to interpret these laws and overturn the ones that are meant to smash into a million pieces everything America is supposed to stand for.

CITIZEN ALERT v3.291RUMORS

2008-10-13T06:55:00.000-07:00

Great story on MSNBC today based on a previous article from the NY Times about the man who STARTED all the false rumors that have been floated around the internet about Barack Obama.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27157703/

Quick description of Andy Martin from the article:

"...Mr. Martin, 62, to be a man with a history of scintillating if not always factual claims. He has left a trail of animosity — some of it provoked by anti-Jewish comments — among political leaders, lawyers and judges in three states over more than 30 years.
He is a law school graduate, but his admission to the Illinois bar was blocked in the 1970s after a psychiatric finding of “moderately severe character defect manifested by well-documented ideation with a paranoid flavor and a grandiose character.”

CITIZEN ALERT v3.290WHY DIDN'T O.J. THINK OF THAT?!

2008-10-10T06:53:00.000-07:00

HA! Today, in order to trump an "embarrassing state ethics report on GOP vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin" the McCain campaign just went and released their OWN report that "proves" she's innocent.

Background from MSNBC:

Sen. John McCain's running mate is the subject of a legislative investigation into whether she abused her power as governor by firing her public safety commissioner. The commissioner, Walter Monegan, says he was dismissed in July for resisting pressure from Palin's husband, Todd Palin, and numerous top aides to fire state trooper Mike Wooten, Palin's former brother-in-law.

So, to head off an investigation that may shed light on a governor abusing her powers, she just heads down to Kinkos and runs off her own report that says she's innocent. Oh, and the best part...she blames the whole thing on a blogger.

FULL STORY

CITIZEN ALERT v3.289Election Protection Wiki

2008-10-09T05:21:00.000-07:00

Like Wikipedia? How about Wiki Voter protection? New website launched to track and protect YOUR electoral process.

"Recent presidential elections were marred by controversies and disputes. Scores of organizations and thousands of individuals have been working to investigate and reform U.S. elections, issuing reports and information on topics such as electronic voting machines, voter suppression campaigns and student voting rights. However, this information is spread across many different websites, news sources and databases. The Election Protection Wiki seeks to provide a single web portal for accessing this disparate information. The Wiki aims to enable citizens, journalists and government officials to actively monitor the electoral process in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. ... Its information is nonpartisan and factual; anyone of any political persuasion will be able to access and use it to protect every American's right to vote. ... We're not on the side of any candidate or political party, we're on the side of the American voter."

http://www.EPWiki.org

CITIZEN ALERT v3.288KEATING ECONOMICS: The story of John McCain and the making of a financial crisis.

2008-10-06T06:33:00.000-07:00

See the full-length video at http://KeatingEconomics.com starting @ noon Eastern on 10/6.

CITIZEN ALERT v3.287PALIN

2008-09-03T22:27:00.001-07:00

More on Sarah Palin's speech later. Just wanted to chirp in with the fact that - did I not say a few days ago she would come out like a pitbull and then did she not compare herself and hockey moms to PITBULLS!!??

Too funny!!

More later

CITIZEN ALERT v3.286IT JUST KEEPS GETTING BETTER

2008-09-01T14:39:00.000-07:00

From MSNBC:

ST. PAUL - John McCain's running mate Sarah Palin said Monday that her 17-year-old unmarried daughter is five months pregnant, an announcement campaign aides said was aimed at rebutting Internet rumors that Palin's youngest son, born in April, was actually her daughter's.
A statement released by the campaign said that Bristol Palin will keep her baby and marry the child's father. Bristol Palin's baby is due in late December.

Wow, ok, first Britney Spears' sister and now the potential VP's daughter. This is just gonna be a drama filled 60 plus days ahead. I'm loving it!

CITIZEN ALERT v3.285LET'S SEE HOW I DID

2008-08-29T13:16:00.000-07:00

Back on January 8th of this year, I posted the following:

In November you'll be voting for Obama/Edwards vs. McCain/and someone out of the blue not in the running right now. And I won't be surprised if McCain wins. Disappointed!! Not surprised.

Well, with the exception of missing Edwards getting caught up in a NATIONAL ENQUIRER love child story, wow, who saw that one coming, I think I did pretty good. 3 out of 4 ain't bad. Obama, McCain, and now today someone OUT OF THE BLUE - Sarah Palin from Alaska. I'm very happy to see the Obama/Biden ticket. Today's pick of Palin just made the VP debate a bigger draw than the Presidential debate. They may need to add another one. I think right now there's only one scheduled.

Palin will most assuredly over compensate and come out of the gate like a pitbull to show she can hold her ground and Biden will trample the ex-Miss Alaska beauty pageant runner up into the stage floor. This will balance out the trampling that Obama may receive from McCain when the debates start.

It's gonna be a good one!

CITIZEN ALERT v3.284JOE BIDEN VP???

2008-08-20T07:13:00.000-07:00

Well, I for one would love this if all the rumors are true that Obama has Sen. Biden at the top of his VP list. As you recall I was endorsing Biden from the beginning before he dropped out, then I voted for Kucinich in the primary. I thought Joe and Dennis were the ONLY straight shooters in all those earlier debates. Biden just tells it like it is whether its good or bad.

As the polls begin to switch in McCains favor, its looking like my prediction that Sen. McCain might take the election is gaining merit. Americans like splitting their government bodies, and studies have shown that the economy does fair better as well.

CITIZEN ALERT v3.283UNFURLED

2008-08-19T18:31:00.000-07:00

Bobot Adrenaline will have their record release party for their debut album "Unfurled" on September 13th at Alex's Bar presented by Punk Rock Social - LIVE!

CITIZEN ALERT v3.282QUOTE OF THE DAY

2008-08-11T06:57:00.000-07:00

Wow! This guy is concerned with a "disproportionate response"?? What?!!!

"I've expressed my grave concern about the disproportionate response of Russia and that we strongly condemn the bombing outside of South Ossetia," Bush said in an interview with NBC Sports.

CITIZEN ALERT v3.281WHAT A WONDERFUL WORLD

2008-08-10T03:41:00.000-07:00

The world is currently playing games with each other and killing each other.

CITIZEN ALERT v2.280OBAMA THE POLITICIAN

2008-07-02T23:54:00.000-07:00

This is why I didn't vote for the guy in the primary. He is so transparent; he is such the politician. Man, he's ticking me off! He's still better than McBush, but the faith based program extensions!! Give me a break! I am a HUGE believer in GOD and an even bigger believer in separation of CHURCH and STATE!!!! This was such an obvious reaction to the REPUB attacks on his Muslim background. UGH!! I knew I didn't like this guy from the beginning.

Hey McBush was pretty good! The DEMS should adopt that! :-)

CITIZEN ALERT v2.279GEORGE CARLIN R.I.P.

2008-06-23T00:06:00.000-07:00

We'll miss you George.

CITIZEN ALERT v2.278MEET THE PRESS

2008-06-18T07:07:00.000-07:00

Tim Russert was one of my favorite people on the political scene. Meet the Press was one of the shows I lived for! I liked him because you could never tell if he was right or left. He was very fair and the situation that needed investigating was always first and foremost. Not "politics".

Prediction: NBC will probably go with Andrea Mitchell to take over Meet the Press. This is just going by the list of names that have been thrown around. Everyone else is too left or right. I don't know what Andrea is but she's been on MTP enough to just be a good fit.

Maria Shriver might be a good choice but she can't leave California without AHNOLD, and she would be seen as too left. David Gregory, eh, maybe.

But I say, look for NBC to return to the shows roots with a female host and Mitchell is the only one that I think makes sense.

CITIZEN ALERT v2.277OBL

2008-06-16T07:07:00.001-07:00

Finally, George W. Bush has decided that maybe going after Osama Bin Laden might be the way to go in fighting his War on Terrorism.

President George W Bush has enlisted British special forces in a final attempt to capture Osama Bin Laden before he leaves the White House.
Defence and intelligence sources in Washington and London confirmed that a renewed hunt was on for the leader of the September 11 attacks. “If he [Bush] can say he has killed Saddam Hussein and captured Bin Laden, he can claim to have left the world a safer place,” said a US intelligence source.

Will this make the liberal left admit his presidency was a success if he succeeds in capturing or killing OBL. NO!! He should have done this YEARS ago! The fact that he backed off of it, started a war in another country, stated that he didn't give OBL much thought, just proves to me as I've said before, that Cheney and Bush wanted to FIGHT the War on Terror, not WIN the War on Terror at least not until it was convenient for their administration.

CITIZEN ALERT v2.276GO DENNIS!!

2008-06-10T11:59:00.000-07:00

Former Presidential contender Dennis Kucinich laid out impeachment legislation on Monday. Nothing will come of it unfortunately even though it has 21 cosponsors. But I give the guy credit for putting it in the record at least.

He said yesterday, "The best option to prevent an unnecessary war with Iran is to impeach the vice president, the lead cheerleader of the war. The Constitution gave Congress the power to impeach. Congress must use its power to restrain the administration and impeach the vice president before he prods the United States into another war."

CITIZEN ALERT v2.275WHY HILLARY LOST

2008-06-09T00:05:00.000-07:00

Senator Clinton lost because she got into a fight that some people thought she shouldn't have been in to begin with. When things went downhill and everyone said pull out, you've lost, get out, she instead threw more money at the problem and said victory was in sight. When it was clear to everyone that it was a lost cause she instead cherry picked the data and misrepresented the facts to promote her story that the battle was winnable.

SOUND LIKE ANYONE YOU KNOW!!!!?????

CITIZEN ALERT v2.274REMEMBER?

2008-05-27T06:27:00.000-07:00

Remember back in JANUARY when I said don't be surprised by a Obama/Edwards ticket possibly and McCain winning in the general election. Looks like some others are starting to foresee that same scenario. This from Politico this morning:

But the contours of the electoral map, combined with McCain’s unique strengths and the nature of Obama’s possible vulnerabilities, have led to a cautious and muted optimism that McCain could actually surpass Bush’s 35-electoral-vote victory in 2004. Though they expect he would finish far closer to Obama in the popular vote, the thinking is that he could win by as many 50 electoral votes.

I still think with the REPUBS losing so many seats and so many others retiring, that McCain stands a good chance of winning but being one of the weakest Presidents ever with a huge DEM victory in Congress in 2008.

And yes I am voting for Obama.

CITIZEN ALERT v2.273ARMS TO PAKISTAN

2008-04-28T09:31:00.000-07:00

Citizen Alert takes a cue from a verse in Bobot Adrenaline's "State of Affairs" that discusses arms sales to Pakistan:

Kashmir what’s your fear. The secrets travel ear to ear
I’ll check my neighbor bash him well
This aeroplane is hard to sell. To sell, I said to sell!

Back in November, the Federation of American Scientists obtained a copy of a 4 page Congressional Research Service report on “U.S. Arms Sales to Pakistan”. It reads in part:

In 2006, the United States signed arms transfer agreements with Pakistan in excess of $3.5 billion, ranking Pakistan first among all arms clients of the United States during that calendar year. The key elements in Pakistan’s arms purchases from the United States were 36 F-16C/D Block 50/52 fighter aircraft for $1.4 billion; a variety of missiles and bombs to be utilized on the F-16 C/D fighter aircraft for over $640 million; the purchase of Mid-Life Update Modification Kits to upgrade Pakistan’s F-16A/B aircraft for $890 million; and 115 M109A5 155mm Self-propelled howitzers for $52 million. The rise of Pakistan to its new status as a major arms purchaser from the United States is particularly noteworthy given the difficulties the United States has had with Pakistan since the 1970s over its successful effort to produce nuclear weapons. The total value of Pakistan’s 2006 arms purchases from the United States nearly matches the total value of all Foreign Military Sales (FMS) program purchases by Pakistan from the United States for the entire period from FY1950-FY2001 (more than $3.6 billion in current dollars).

READ the full report here.

CITIZEN ALERT v2.272QUOTE OF THE DAY

2008-04-26T15:07:00.000-07:00

"Every human being is an artist, a freedom being, called to participate in transforming and reshaping the conditions, thinking, and structures that shape and condition our lives." - Joseph Beuys

CITIZEN ALERT v2.271MERCY CORPS

2008-04-18T06:57:00.000-07:00

From the Mercy Corp this morning:

Fifty Indian rupees. That's about a dollar and 28 cents at current exchange rates — not enough to buy a cup of coffee most places.

But in northeast India's Darjeeling District, 50 rupees is a day's pay for hard-working tea pickers. Four hundred miles away, another half-million earn a similar wage plucking tea leaves in Assam's humid lowlands.

Tea dominates the economy of both Darjeeling and Assam, names synonymous with some of the world's best teas. Strong, malty Assam and golden-hued, fragrant Darjeeling teas have been prized above others for more than 150 years.

And during that century and a half, living conditions for tea workers have changed very little.

See what Mercy Corp is doing to change this by visiting their website.

mercycorp.org

CITIZEN ALERT v2.270TIRED OF IT

2008-04-13T21:43:00.000-07:00

Really tired of the primary back and forth nitpicking that's going on. November can not get here soon enough! I still stand by my prediction of January 8th.

CITIZEN ALERT v2.269EARTH HOUR

2008-03-29T11:34:00.000-07:00

On Saturday, March 29, 2008, Earth Hour invites people around the world to turn off their lights for one hour – from 8:00pm to 9:00pm in their local time zone. On this day, cities around the world, including Copenhagen, Chicago, Melbourne, Dubai, and Tel Aviv, will hold events to acknowledge their commitment to energy conservation.

CITIZEN ALERT v2.268WHY? WHY? WHY?

2008-03-26T00:30:00.000-07:00

Why would Hillary Clinton "embellish" on a story about a trip she made to Bosnia saying she had to duck down for fear of snipers on a runaway when she KNOWS that on the trip she was surrounded by the press corp watching her greet a freaking child on the tarmac with SINBAD?!

It sounds like an old Lucille Ball movie, "The First Lady and Sinbad Go to Bosnia". Nah, no one's going to be rolling tape on that!! Was she thinking that the news just doesn't keep track of all that old footage? Maybe they just tape over the old stuff? Moron!

CITIZEN ALERT v2.2674000

2008-03-23T23:32:00.000-07:00

U.S. death toll in Iraq conflict reaches 4,000

CITIZEN ALERT v2.266SUPER TUESDAY

2008-02-05T20:28:00.000-08:00

Well, I voted the way I have been voting for the past few elections. Getting my absentee mail in ballot ahead of time and then filling it out at home and then taking it to the poll place myself on election day and putting it in the ballot box myself. Safest way to vote in my opinion.

This year a few poll workers tried to tell me I couldn't vote at first because I had a mail in ballot and I said, yes I can. And then they said well, it needs to be in an envelope and I said, no it doesn't. So, then they said, well we'll void your ballot for you and give you a new one and I said no you won't. And that's when the AMERICANS behind me voiced their opinions with HE'S RIGHT! You have to let him vote and they quickly changed their mind. One poll worker did in fact know I was right and agreed with me all along.

YEA ELECTION DAY!!!!!!

CITIZEN ALERT v2.265READING MATERIAL and FBI

2008-01-11T00:42:00.000-08:00

I just started Hans Blix's "The Search for Weapons of Mass Destruction DISARMING IRAQ". I'll let you know how it is.

And this is too funny. For those upset by the government's wiretapping program, you can rest easy tonite as the wiretaps have been "yanked" due to the FBI forgetting to PAY THEIR PHONE BILL!!

from YAHOO: Telephone companies have cut off FBI wiretaps used to eavesdrop on suspected criminals because of the bureau's repeated failures to pay phone bills on time.

A Justice Department audit released Thursday blamed the lost connections on the FBI's lax oversight of money used in undercover investigations. In one office alone, unpaid costs for wiretaps from one phone company totaled $66,000.

In at least one case, a wiretap used in a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act investigation "was halted due to untimely payment," the audit found. FISA wiretaps are used in the government's most sensitive and secretive criminal and intelligence investigations, and allow eavesdropping on suspected terrorists or spies.

"We also found that late payments have resulted in telecommunications carriers actually disconnecting phone lines established to deliver surveillance results to the FBI, resulting in lost evidence," according to the audit by Inspector General Glenn A. Fine.

More than half of 990 bills to pay for telecommunication surveillance in five unidentified FBI field offices were not paid on time, the report shows.

CITIZEN ALERT v2.264VIDEO

2008-01-09T00:11:00.000-08:00

Wow, ask for a simple video and snap you get it! Nice.

LINK TO IRANIAN "INCIDENT"

These boats come nowhere near what they first said they were doing. Also, I don't see any boxes. Seems like a ridiculous display of showmanship on the Iranians part. I mean, really, an outboard motor boat! How many Iranian Navy jokes came to mind watching that video.

CITIZEN ALERT v2.263PREDICTIONS

2008-01-08T00:28:00.000-08:00

In November you'll be voting for Obama/Edwards vs. McCain/and someone out of the blue not in the running right now. And I won't be surprised if McCain wins. Disappointed!! Not surprised.

I want to see video on this Iranian boat dropping boxes in the water and intimidating the US Navy. The military videotapes freaking EVERYTHING!! Show me the video otherwise this is just more Tonkin crap.

CITIZEN ALERT v2.262WHERE HAVE I BEEN?

2007-12-07T21:12:00.000-08:00

I know, I haven't done a CITIZEN ALERT since October. Well, I quit my job started a new career and I'm still settling in, not to mention getting BOBOT ADRENALINE's album out and starting a writing project for 2008. I hope after the holidays, and the 2008 race really heats up I'll be back in the mix!

Have you joined KIVA yet? It's awesome!

www.kiva.org

CITIZEN ALERT v2.261REASON NUMBER 500 TOVOTE FOR KUCINICH

2007-10-31T09:03:00.000-07:00

Okay, I was just reading an interview with Dennis Kucinich's wife, Elizabeth Kucinich, and she has a TONGUE RING!! COME ON PEOPLE!! These two people HAVE TO BE IN THE WHITE HOUSE!! COME ON! COME ON!! That just rules! The interview also goes on to say that they were engaged the second time they met!

A First Lady with a tongue ring!! There's just way too many jokes buzzing in my head right now to put them all down. But we have to do this as a country, put the youngest and most pierced First Lady in history in the White House!!

CITIZEN ALERT v1.260BANNED BUSH INTERVIEWON IRISH TV

2007-10-29T09:22:00.000-07:00

CITIZEN ALERT v1.259AL GORE WINS NOBEL PEACE PRIZE

2007-10-12T09:19:00.001-07:00

I am deeply honored to receive the Nobel Peace Prize. This award is even more meaningful because I have the honor of sharing it with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change--the world's pre-eminent scientific body devoted to improving our understanding of the climate crisis--a group whose members have worked tirelessly and selflessly for many years. We face a true planetary emergency. The climate crisis is not a political issue, it is a moral and spiritual challenge to all of humanity. It is also our greatest opportunity to lift global consciousness to a higher level.

My wife, Tipper, and I will donate 100 percent of the proceeds of the award to the Alliance for Climate Protection, a bipartisan non-profit organization that is devoted to changing public opinion in the U.S. and around the world about the urgency of solving the climate crisis.

Thank you,

Al Gore

CITIZEN ALERT v2.258SUNSHINE PROJECT UPDATE

2007-09-18T23:08:00.000-07:00

The Sunshine project has released a couple of updates this past week on accidents in Texas involving biodefense labs.

On April 13th of this year, workers at a Houston, Texas biodefense lab were exposed to aerosolized anthrax. Just down the road in San Antonio and only a day before (April 12th), workers entered a tularemia lab to inspect malfunctioning air filters without wearing gloves or any respiratory protection.

Everyone knows what anthrax is but tularemia is a bacterium. People call it rabbit fever because you can get if you don't wear gloves while skinning your rabbits. It can also be manufactured. The CDC considers it a biological weapon.

In addition to the bioweapons agent accidents in Houston and San Antonio, on Friday (14 September), the University of Texas at Austin revealed a series of mishaps, including at least four lab-acquired infections, in 2002, 2003, 2004, and 2005, that were not properly documented, investigated, or reported. The infections involved shigella, an infectious bacteria which, in some cases, may have been genetically engineered.

Now just a little reminder: when we went into Iraq to stop them from producing nuclear weapons and that story fell apart, the excuse was because they were developing biological weapons. Hmmm. If that's a bad thing then why do we do it also? The DOD would tell you that it's because they are bio DEFENSE labs. They are looking for preventives and treatments not doing anything sinister like Fort Detrick style.

What the Sunshine Project does through a lot of Freedom of Info Acts, is keep track of the screw ups - the accidents. Remember these guys may be rocket scientists but they can still drop something. And keep in mind through all this that our national defense starts at the collegiate level. The internet began so university researchers could talk to each other across the country. National Security STARTS at college or should. If you've ever read Cliff Stoll's "The Cuckoo's Egg" then you know what I'm talking about.

The reason the Sunshine project stays busy is the fact that the universities don't report all their accidents. Sunshine uncovers them. You can see some of their reports here: UTSA report

Not only do we need to crack down on demanding stricter safety oversight at our universities, we must ask what kind of security do we have at these biodefense labs. Our next American soil attack could come from a radicalized student gaining access to God knows what. I know we have Iraq's oil guarded, but I get a little worried that we may have our priorities mixed up in university security when some kid can waltz on to campus and gun down a bunch of people but someone else asks John Kerry if he was in Skull and Bones and they get their ass kicked! This is a class system at work in front of your very eyes.

CITIZEN ALERT v2.257JOHN KERRY NOT SO MUCHFOR FREEDOM OF SPEECH

2007-09-18T11:19:00.001-07:00

Sorry, CITIZEN ALERT has been away for awhile. I was moving and then getting settled into my new digs, but today this irked me enough to start up posting! People being arrested for exercising their freedom of speech no matter how badly they are doing it pisses me off to no end. Especially by some overzealous wanna be university police officers.

And watch Kerry in this video. Here's a politician doing what they do best - protecting their own ass. He very calmly and QUIETLY asks them to let the boy ask his question but in no way tries to intervene in the arrest of an American citizen for asking a question! This is so he can say, look I said to let him finish but no one was listening. Yeah, cause you were practically whispering it compared to the chaos that was ensuing!

When security guards at concerts get out of hand, how many times have you seen bands scream at the guards HEY BRING THAT KID BACK OR THE SHOW IS OVER! Did Kerry have any courage to stop this mess of democracy. Not at all.

CITIZEN ALERT v2.256MONEY FOR IRAQ

2007-08-29T08:32:00.000-07:00

The President is planning on asking for another $50 billion from Congress to continue his war in Iraq. Okay, DEMS, here's your chance AGAIN to take control and end this thing before he leaves office. The cost of the war in Iraq now exceeds $3 billion a week according to MSNBC. The military leaders in charge are saying they once again need more time, more time. How far is this going to go? How many 20 years old can you throw at a fire before it goes out or you just call it a day?

CITIZEN ALERT v2.255COMING BACK

2007-08-27T08:41:00.000-07:00

Sorry, CITIZEN ALERT has been away for awhile. I've been moving, so I'm slowly getting back to my regular schedule and will start posting again.

A lot has happened since my last post, so I'm not going to even try to catch up. Rove is gone and today Alberto Gonzalez resigned. The rats are deserting this sinking ship of an adminstration.

The one thing this week that I don't think anyone is attacking at least from the DEMS side is this article I read, I believe, on MSNBC that Iraq's Prime Minister Nouri al-al-Maliki lashed out at all the DEMS for calling for his replacement. It was Democrat this and Democrat that. Bill Kristol from the PNAC and Tony Blankley from the McLaughlin Group both have stated that he needed to be replaced, so with those two big REPUB mouth pieces on the march you can't tell me that the REPUBS are feeling the exact same way.

And what message would we be sending if we were to replace an elected foreign official that WE, a country on the other side of the world, didn't think was keeping our best interests in mind.

CITIZEN ALERT v2.254DICK CHENEY IS RIGHT!!

2007-08-15T12:17:00.000-07:00

The must see video of the year!

CITIZEN ALERT v2.253THANKS!

2007-08-12T16:37:00.001-07:00

I hadn't even noticed but CITIZEN ALERT celebrated its 1 year anniversary on August 2nd! Thanks to everyone around the globe that has stopped by to read and comment. I'll keep blogging and you keep reading.

CITIZEN ALERT v2.252SADLY, MY HOMETOWN

2007-08-11T03:16:00.000-07:00

This in the news today from my hometown of Arlington, TX.

ARLINGTON, Texas - A megachurch canceled a memorial service for a Navy veteran 24 hours before it was to start because the deceased was gay.

Officials at the nondenominational High Point Church knew that Cecil Howard Sinclair was gay when they offered to host his service, said his sister, Kathleen Wright. But after his obituary listed his life partner as one of his survivors, she said, it was called off.

"It's a slap in the face. It's like, 'Oh, we're sorry he died, but he's gay so we can't help you,'" she said Friday.

Wright said High Point offered to hold the service for Sinclair because their brother is a janitor there. Sinclair, who served in the first Gulf War, died Monday at age 46 from an infection after surgery to prepare him for a heart transplant.

The church's pastor, the Rev. Gary Simons, said no one knew Sinclair, who was not a church member, was gay until the day before the Thursday service, when staff members putting together his video tribute saw pictures of men "engaging in clear affection, kissing and embracing."

Simons said the church believes homosexuality is a sin, and it would have appeared to endorse that lifestyle if the service had been held there.

"We did decline to host the service — not based on hatred, not based on discrimination, but based on principle," Simons told The Associated Press. "Had we known it on the day they first spoke about it — yes, we would have declined then. It's not that we didn't love the family." (WHAT?)

Simons said the decision had nothing to do with the obituary. He said the church offered to pay for another site for the service, made the video and provided food for more than 100 relatives and friends.

"Even though we could not condone that lifestyle, we went above and beyond for the family through many acts of love and kindness," Simons said.

Wright called the church's claim about the pictures "a bold-faced lie." She said she provided numerous family pictures of Sinclair, including some with his partner, but said none showed men kissing or hugging.

The 5,000-member High Point Church was founded in 2000 by Simons and his wife, April, whose brother is Joel Osteen, well-known pastor of the 38,000-member Lakewood Church in Houston. Now High Point meets in a 432,000-square-foot facility in Arlington, near Dallas.

Wright said relatives declined the church's offer to hold the service at a community center because they felt it was an inappropriate venue. It ultimately was held at a funeral home, but the cancellation still lingered in some minds, she said.

___

CITIZEN ALERT v2.251QUOTE OF THE DAY

2007-08-04T13:29:00.000-07:00

From Noah Webster, the guy that brought you the Webster's Dictionary...

America sees the absurdities—she sees the kingdoms of Europe, disturbed by wrangling sectaries, or their commerce, population and improvements of every kind cramped and retarded, because the human mind like the body is fettered 'and bound fast by the chords of policy and superstition': She laughs at their folly and shuns their errors: She founds her empire upon the idea of universal toleration: She admits all religions into her bosom—She secures the sacred rights of every individual; and (astonishing absurdity to Europeans!) she sees a thousand discordant opinions live in the strictest harmony ... it will finally raise her to a pitch of greatness and lustre, before which the glory of ancient Greece and Rome shall dwindle to a point, and the splendor of modern Empires fade into obscurity. - Noah Webster

CITIZEN ALERT v2.250MY PRINTER SAID "KILL"

2007-08-03T10:17:00.000-07:00

Hey your Color Laser Jet printer is actually spying on you! Check out this very interesting article from Yahoo's tech News:

http://tech.yahoo.com/blog/null/35239

It's only color laser jets, no ink jets, or black and white lasers.

CITIZEN ALERT v1.249SUNGLASSES

2007-07-31T08:52:00.001-07:00

Man, if this is not a subtle sign of the depleting ozone and global warming, I don't know what is. Warning signs are this small and this insignificant. It's not til years down the road that you realize what you were seeing at the time.

FROM MSNBC:

Australian school makes sunglasses compulsory for pupils

There was a time when wearing sunglasses would have been seen as too cool for school, but for pupils at a pioneering primary in Australia they are now a compulsory part of the uniform.

The move is aimed at protecting young eyes from the sun's dangerous ultraviolet rays, and education authorities say they are considering adopting the plan at all state schools.

The headmaster of Sydney's Arncliffe Public School, where sunglasses are now compulsory for children from kindergarten through Year 6, said they had no problems wearing the glasses in the playground.

The "sunnies" as they are called in Australia, would soon become "routine" for the pupils, Stephan Vrachas told commercial radio.

The education minister of New South Wales state, of which Sydney is the capital, said the government would consider making sunglasses compulsory in all public school playgrounds.

"It is conceivable that in certain environments it might be appropriate to wear sunglasses when they are playing in the sun," John Della Bosca told reporters.

Excessive exposure to the sun's ultraviolet rays, already blamed for skin cancers, can also lead to cataracts, experts say.

A specialist at Sydney Eye Hospital told the national AAP news agency that wraparound glasses were the best for eye protection and children should be encouraged to wear them from the age of three or four.

Sunglasses were particularly important in summer, when ultraviolet exposure was up to five times higher than in winter, said Con Petsoglou.

CITIZEN ALERT v1.248HEALTHCARE HYPOCRISY

2007-07-30T00:12:00.000-07:00

You know, I'm tired of hearing the REPUBS trying to frighten the elderly in this country away from Universal Healthcare by stating that they'll end up with no choices of who treats them and the government will decide what care they get. Golly, you certainly don't want the federal government deciding for you what care is best do you? They're not doctors.

Now, REPUBS uphold this propaganda because they believe there should be a smaller federal government. When they're hit with gay marriage rights, people like Cheney will weasel out of it by saying that matters like that should be left up to the state.

Well, explain this. In 1996, the STATE of California voted to allow doctors to prescribe marijuana to their patients. So, why has the Bush administration allowed the DEA to override those doctors orders by raiding 10 marijuana clinics this past Wednesday? Is that keeping your federal government out of healthcare?

I think if Californians really want their medical marijuana then it will have to be taken out of private hands, and regulated by our state government. Let's see the DEA bust into a clinic run by the State of California that has a couple of National Guardsmen in the lobby. Now, THAT would be a cock fight.

CITIZEN ALERT v1.247JAMES COMEY

2007-07-26T01:00:00.000-07:00

THIS IS REQUIRED VIEWING!! YOU MUST WATCH THE ENTIRE VIDEO OR LISTEN TO IT IN THE BACKGROUND WHILE YOU ARE WORKING.

One of the most dramatic events in American History to me. The program Comey is describing is the NSA's domestic surveillance aka the wiretapping and spying on Americans program.

CITIZEN ALERT v1.246XAVIER BECCERA

2007-07-21T14:56:00.000-07:00

This morning I went to a town hall meeting with my representative Xavier Becerra at the Dahlia Heights Elementary School in Eagle Rock. I would urge everyone to attend your own representative's town hall meeting in order to hear their views in person. You get a better sense of who that person is and what they believe when they're standing up there having to explain it to a roomful of really pissed off people.

Once the questioning began the word IMPEACHMENT was almost immediately shouted across the floor to thunderous applause from us all. And I can tell you from that meeting, being that Beccera is Nancy Pelosi's assistant, they are in NO WAY looking to impeach either Bush or Cheney. He explained it over and over again to the dismay of everyone, that while they "support" impeaching the administration and they are as frustrated as we are, an impeachment, in their minds, would take at least 2 years. They have 18 months. An impeachment would take their focus away from bringing our troops home from Iraq. He went on to say that the congress can focus on only so much at a time and right now it is working on Iraq.

I believe he was sincere in his frustration, but still disagree with him on the DEMS methods. He brought up procedures and laws over and over, but look, this administration has no respect for procedure or laws, so if you think you're going to win by following them to make yourself look more noble then you are fooling yourself. If the REPUBS want to take it into the gutter then the DEMS need to fight it out in the gutter.

CITIZEN ALERT v1.245JOURNEY TO AWARENESS

2007-07-18T09:14:00.001-07:00

CITIZEN ALERT v1.244WHAT'S HE UP TO?

2007-07-17T08:46:00.000-07:00

Well, a lot is being said this week about what to do with the Bush admin and what to do in Iraq. The National Intelligence Estimate has come out with a new report as Bush's surge is still not working but in the background as reported this weekend, the Airforce is "quietly" building up its numbers in Iraq and increasing bombing runs.

I really need a weekend to go over all this and then regenerate it back into a CITIZEN ALERT for you guys to digest, but here's a quick version. For those up to speed, I don't mean that you wouldn't get it unless I told you, just keep in mind that I do CITIZEN ALERT for younger America - younger Bobot Adrenaline fans - who don't keep up with global politics as much but want to learn or just want to know what everyone is talking about on the news from time to time. About 50% of CA is aimed at them.

So, what is Bush up to? The big teacher parent meeting is coming up in September where the Congress unless they cut it off now, will take a look at how his surge worked or didn't and decide whether to give him anymore money to continue the war in Iraq. The House controls the budget; they can stop the war in second if they had the guts to do it.

Bush is 1) having another group come up with a separate report that leans more in his favor which I'm sure he'll be waving in the air. This is basically like turning your F into a B on your report card with a pencil. 2) The Airforce is increasing in Iraq - more bombing runs. The US is very effective when we launch an air campaign. We don't do it all the way all the time because of a couple reason, one being civilian casualties, the other intelligence. But again, the bombings have increased and I see this as either a) Bush sort of cheating the numbers on his surge or b) he's planning ahead to a perimeter campaign because he knows the money is getting cut off.

Let's watch and see this week if the DEMS can remember why we elected them in the first place.

CITIZEN ALERT v1.243JAPAN QUAKE

2007-07-16T12:29:00.000-07:00

Also for today, there was a 6.7 quake in Japan killing 7 and causing damage across the country. But check this out. Water containing radioactive material leaked from one of their plants that was closed for repairs. Now, it was only 1.5 liters, not a lot, BUT LOOK WHAT THEY DID WITH IT!!

The contaminated water was released into the ocean and had had no effect on the environment, TEPCO said in a statement. The company had previously said there had been no radiation leaks at the plant, where reactors automatically shut down for checks.

Released into the ocean but had no effect on environment?! Now, I know 1.5 liters is less than a 2 liter bottle of Coca Cola, but if they think that has no effect, then what else has no effect to them?? Geez.

CITIZEN ALERT v1.242HOYER ON D.C.

2007-07-16T12:26:00.000-07:00

WASHINGTON, DC - House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer released the following statement today commemorating the establishment of Washington, DC, in 1790:

"Two hundred and seventeen years ago today, the Residence Act of 1790 was signed into law, designating 10 square miles along the Potomac River as the permanent capital city of the federal government. Maryland and Virginia ceded land to create Washington, DC, but their generous gift had an unintended side effect for their residents: everyone living within the new District lost voting representation in Congress. This injustice has been allowed to continue for far too long.

"In honor of Washington, DC's birthday, there is no more appropriate thing we can do than finally grant its citizens a voting representative in the House of Representatives. I hope the Senate will quickly follow the House's lead in passing legislation that will end more than 200 years of disenfranchisement for the nearly 600,000 residents of the District."

CITIZEN ALERT v1.241AL-MALIKI

2007-07-14T12:01:00.000-07:00

MSNBC is reporting that Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has said that with some more weapons the Iraqi security forces can take over securing the country whenever US troops want to leave.

President Bush was often fond of telling DEMS that he didn't run the war by listening to Congress, but by listening to his Generals. Problem is that whenever his Generals told him something he didn't like, he switched Generals. I seem to remember him also saying that we are "staying the course" because the Iraqi government wants us there and we'll stay as long as we're needed.

Now, let's see if he switches Prime Ministers.

CITIZEN ALERT v1.240THE BAD REPORT CARD

2007-07-13T15:51:00.000-07:00

Read the full NSN report here that got everybody jumping on President Bush's case this past week. It details how the Iraqi government is not hitting their benchmarks for securing the country.

CITIZEN ALERT v1.239FOX NETWORK ATTACKS

2007-07-12T08:42:00.000-07:00

CITIZEN ALERT v1.238CINDY THROWS DOWN

2007-07-09T00:37:00.000-07:00

Cindy Sheehan a few weeks back announced she was stepping back from the anti-war movement in order to restrategize a whole new way to attack Bush's Iraq War. She didn't stay retired for long! Sunday she announced she would run for Nancy Pelosi's congressional seat if the Speaker of the House didn't "seek to impeach" the president by July 23rd!

Wow! Cindy came back packing heat!

CITIZEN ALERT v1.237SARA TAYLOR

2007-07-08T13:06:00.000-07:00

I like how the Bush administration has redefined obstruction of justice as executive privilege. If ex-Bush aide Sara Taylor wishes to testify in the attorney firings, then she should be able to exercise her First Amendment rights and do so without fear of the President issuing a gag order on her.

CITIZEN ALERT v1.236PARDON PRIMER

2007-07-06T00:38:00.000-07:00

There's gonna be a lot of heat from the Grand Old Party of Excuses as they try to deflect criticism away from President Bush and try a brand new tact of saying "BUT LOOK WHAT CLINTON DID!" Oh wait, that's not brand new, they do that every five minutes.

LEWIS LIBBY - Convicted of 4 felonies. 2 perjury, 1 making false statements, and 1 obstruction of justice. Obstruction is HUGE in the legal system. And to repeat - CONVICTED.

GEORGE W. BUSH - Says he will not get involved or even comment on a case while it is on going, until this week when he stepped in before Libby had even made his appeal and he commutated his sentence, meaning he doesn't have to go to jail, but he still has to pay a fine of $250,000. Luckily his REPUB friends have raised like $5 million dollars for him. Tough life.

BILL CLINTON - Impeached on perjury and obstruction of justice. I would wager 99% of Americans don't even really know what the word impeach means. It means to ACCUSE a public official of misconduct or to BRING CHARGES. It doesn't mean you're guilty, like a conviction does. How impeachment works is that the House of Representatives brings charges or makes the accusations or as they say IMPEACHES the President, then it goes to the SENATE where they hold the trial. In Clinton's case, he was acquitted by the Senate. That means found NOT GUILTY as in the opposite of CONVICTED. So, when you hear someone say, "Well, Clinton was IMPEACHED!" They are basically saying "Well Clinton was accused of stuff". If they say he was "Successfully impeached", just tell them they are idiots.

Now, what did Clinton get in trouble for? In a completely separate matter regarding the Paula Jones case he was cited with contempt of court for failing to testify truthfully. He later worked out an agreement to cut the whole thing short basically plea bargaining and he accepted his law license being suspended and he resigned from the bar. Done.

Keep in mind the country was BEHIND Clinton during all this. Bush's approval ratings are like in the high 20s or low 30s now. During Clinton's impeachment, he was around 66%. You could add up Cheney AND Bush's approval ratings and they wouldn't get to 66. Clinton even left office with a 60% approval.

MARC RICH - A guy indicted on tax evasion who fled to Switzerland before his court appearance. Clinton pardoned this guy because THESE GUYS a Harvard Law prof and Georgetown Law prof showed that his company did not evade taxes. Unlike Bush, Clinton sought bi-partisan consultation before the pardon from three Republican lawyers, one being Marc Rich's own lawyer one: LEWIS LIBBY. Yep! Kinda hilarious huh?

ROGER CLINTON - Clinton's half brother who Clinton pardoned of drug possession charges. The difference between this and Libby? Roger had already served his prison time a decade earlier. THAT'S really how a pardon is supposed to work.

147 PARDONS - Clinton pardoned about 450 people during his presidency, 147 on his last day. If you want to read about the people and why he did then READ THIS. It explains a lot of it. Reagan pardoned about 400. Carter like 500 I think and Nixon over 900. George W. doesn't give them out too much at all; he's at like 76. I guess he just saves them for his buddies.

PATRICK FITZGERALD - The lawyer investigating who outed covert CIA agent Valerie Plame. He knew it led back to the Vice President but because Lewis Libby lied and "couldn't remember" this and that, he was unable to get to the Vice President, but since he caught Libby lying while covering for his boss, he charged him with perjury and obstruction of justice.

CITIZEN ALERT v1.235MARC RICH

2007-07-05T14:00:00.000-07:00

Here's some trivia for you REPUBS out there.

Name one person who advocated Clinton pardoning Marc Rich.

Answer: LEWIS LIBBY!!

CITIZEN ALERT v1.234CALM DOWN

2007-07-04T00:17:00.000-07:00

And on the Fourth day of July, Pepper rested. I hope I haven't been bugging everybody too much with my rants and posts over these past couple of days. I had a long 5 day weekend from work and the mood of it was sufficiently ruined by the news.

I'm calming down now. I've been doing a lot of reading and research and for now I think I'll take a pause and come back on the 5th. I've learned some interesting stuff, and have a perspective on a few things that I didn't quite have a handle on before.

I'll share later. So for now, enjoy your 4th of July and if you're in Los Angeles, come see Bobot Adrenaline play at El Cid for the Kiss or Kill BBQ.

CITIZEN ALERT v1.233TONY SNOW BEAT DOWN

2007-07-03T12:48:00.000-07:00

For those that think the American media is just a pawn of the government I ask you to read the transcript of today's press briefing with White House Press Sec. Tony Snow at the White House. The reporters rip him a new one as he stutters and bumbles his way through trying to explain the President was right in commuting Libby's sentence. Nice try Tony.

Here's a preview of a reporter asking a pointed question and then Snow going off on some bizarre - I don't know what he's talking about:

Q Why didn't he consult with Justice Department officials? Officials in his own Justice Department say normally someone would at least serve some jail time before a sentence is actually commuted. Why didn't he consult with his own Justice Department?
MR. SNOW: Well, a couple of things. First, quite often when you're dealing with sentences of this sort, they also have to deal with, as you point out, sentences that are ongoing or sometimes cases that have gotten a bit stale and people are trying to refresh their memories about the particulars of the case. The same would be true of the prosecutor, because they're quite often consulted for the same reason. Here you have a case that's still ongoing in the court system. It's not like people's memories are fuzzy about the details or the circumstances. The Attorney General, himself, was recused, as you know, in this case.
But the answer, Ed, is that it is certainly -- in some cases, people do such consultations. In this case -- and they do it for the reasons I've just cited. These tend to be, can you go back and fill me in on what happened in that case. If you take a look at the rash of pardons and commutations at the end of the Clinton era, a lot of that was people running around trying to find paperwork to figure out what the facts were. So let me just --
Q Well, why no jail time, though?
MR. SNOW: I'm sorry, what?

READ THE FULL BEAT DOWN HERE

CITIZEN ALERT v1.232CALL BUSH AND TELL HIM HE SUCKS!

2007-07-03T00:46:00.000-07:00

Welcome to another edition of CITIZEN RED ALERT!!!

CALL THE WHITE HOUSE NOW!!!!

Flood the White House with phone calls over this blatant disregard for the rule of law.

202-456-1414

9am-5pm EST

Remind him of what he said January of 2001:

"[We] must remember the high standards that come with high office. This begins with careful adherence to the rules. I expect every member of this administration to stay well within the boundaries that define legal and ethical conduct. This means avoiding even the appearance of problems. This means checking and, if need be, double- checking that the rules have been obeyed. This means never compromising those rules. No one in the White House should be afraid to confront the people they work for, for ethical concerns, and no one should hesitate to confront me as well. We are all accountable to one another. And above all, we are all accountable to the law and to the American people."

If you want to pardon someone or commute them then the PROPER guidelines are to wait til all appeals have been exhausted and the person has STARTED serving their time. Bush didn't wait for either. All you ever hear from the Bush administration is that they will not even comment on a case or get involved in ANYTHING while the case is on going or until the appeals process is done. Today, he suddenly changed his mind and jumped in the middle of the whole deal because this time it was someone in HIS administration convicted of 4 felonies.

It doesn't matter that he's within his power to commute someone's sentence; he's had his whole term to make pardons, and he's made fewer than anyone until today when he picked someone in his own administration. He just sent a message to everyone in the world that their circle of friends are above every law in America. Nothing in the Constitution applies to them. They can do no wrong.

They should be in jail for the rest of their natural lives. All of them. Clinton had sex and lied about it to a grand jury, but he was never a traitor to his country, he never did anything treasonous. Bush just pardoned a guy who helped cover up the fact that they outted one of our covert agents because her husband called them out on one their lies to get us into a war.

Traitors every last one of them.

CITIZEN ALERT v1.231BUSH COMMUTES LIBBY'S SENTENCE

2007-07-02T16:05:00.000-07:00

Just breaking now.

President "Me and Dick are Above the Law" Bush has commuted Libby's sentence. These people have no souls whatsoever. All this talk about it being too harsh on Libby, but I don't see anybody from the Bush administration apologizing to Plame for outting her in the first place. They're all excuses on that end.

The spin doctoring has already started on the news and of course they're all starting up with "Clinton pardoned all these other people".

Cheney is apparently no longer part of the Executive branch and now the President is part of the Judicial branch. It makes it very confusing, doesn't it? IMPEACH THEM ALL!!

C O R R U P T I O N

CITIZEN ALERT v1.230MORE ON SiCKO

2007-07-02T00:10:00.000-07:00

Another thing about SiCKO that I think was important was Moore's trip to Cuba with the 9/11 rescue workers. The reception they had is what I would expect from people of any country practically toward people of another country in a one on one situation and that is warm, understanding, inviting, etc. One has to remember that it's usually governments that are at war with one another not their people.

The other important thing I found interesting was the comment from one gentleman who said that the reason things were the way they were in Europe was because the government was AFRAID of the people, and in America its the other way around. It's true, look how crazy France got during those recent protests, look what happened with the election in Spain after that bombing. Look at how Tony Blair or any PM has to debate in British parliament. It's a real fight.

It made me think that unlike old Europe maybe the reason our government isn't afraid of the American people is because no standing President has been dragged out of the White House and had his head chopped off by an angry mob. Think about it. I'm of course not advocating this behavior, but European history can get pretty down right ugly at times. America just hasn't had that kind of revolt by its people yet to scare the government on the straight and narrower.

CITIZEN ALERT v1.229SiCKO REVIEW

2007-07-01T10:35:00.000-07:00

I went and saw SiCKO yesterday with my friend Scott. I think its Michael Moore's most accessible film to date. The Bush bashing is kept to a minimum and he actually clobbers Hillary Clinton as much as he clobbers Nixon whom he places the blame on starting the for-profit HMO "movement". Some could argue though that the for-profit HMOs developed later in the 80s out of Nixons HMO Act as a sort of "mutation", but you guys can argue that.

He mainly attacks health care in America as this ideal of discompassion toward our fellow man. That's really the over all theme in SiCKO is that we are here to take care of one another. It's a motto I personally relish myself in my own life. You can see it on my personal MySpace page - "EVERYONE IS RESPONSIBLE FOR EVERYONE ELSE". I like to keep things simple. Apply that to anything you run across in your every day routine and see how your affected by it.

Overall I liked SiCKO, it showed other countries' health care systems as they should be - an after thought. It was THE ONE LESS THING I'm always hoping for. ONE LESS THING to worry about. Can we have just ONE LESS THING to occupy our time so we can concentrate on other things? Health care seems a perfect choice. People in the UK, Canada, France, Cuba - it's the ONE LESS THING they have to be bothered with and they think it quite odd that we still have to worry about it.

As the SiCKO box office revenue grows, more and more anti-Moore, anti-socialized medicine blogs and interviews you are likely to see. Let me dispel one for you right now. You're probably eventually going to have someone send this to you or run across it on the internet, a short film by Stuart Browning telling you how much Canada sucks:

This was posted on moorewatch.com - an anti-moore site - and it is to counter all those crazy Canadians that Michael Moore interviews in SiCKO. Now, I know that Moore is by nature going to slant things in his favor, but don't think that the other side will not slant things in theirs with their own agenda. But in the film above you'll notice they present ONE case and it's not even a correctly constructed argument. They are comparing a health care system to someone laying down cash on the table. No one gets what they want more than someone who plunks down cash for something, so I think you are comparing apples and oranges on that one.

Now, let's look at their agenda. Go and Google Stuart Browning and you will find he is a film maker and an advocate of free market health care. His partner in promoting free market healthcare is physician David Gratzer. Then, Google David Gratzer, and you will find that one of his buddies is none other than Milton FREAKING Friedman. If the neo cons every replaced God with anyone sometime down the road it would be Milton FREAKING Friedman. Milt wrote the foreword to Gratzer's book The Cure: How Capitalism Can Save American Health Care. Nice title. It was put out by Encounter Books. Google that. This took me all of 60 seconds to find out all this by the way. Google Encounter and you find:

Encounter Books is an American conservative book publisher. It is an activity of Encounter for Culture and Education, Inc.

Encounter Books publishes serious non-fiction books, with a scholarly leaning, in the areas of history, religion, biography, education, public policy, current affairs, social sciences, and politics.

Ah, the Conservative infrastructure is alive and well. See what I mean? Everyone slants.

Now, back to the short film; here's a comment left by a CANADIAN on the moorewatch.com site after viewing the short film.

As a Canadian I have to comment on this one…

First my disclaimer: I love assault rifles and am pro-death penalty, and very much a supporter of Canada’s war effort in Afghanistan. Technically that makes me a right-leaning Canadian.

But I just HAVE to point out that the dreadful little film on Youtube about that unfortunate man is FAR from the norm in the Canadian health care system. It uses the same careful omission of a few critical details that Moore uses in his films.

It is extreme case of a person who slipped through the cracks in our system. They show up every few years and make headlines across the country. For a week or so after people rally for privatized health care, then the fervor fades away as the details of the case unfold.

The majority of these cases are the result of misdiagnoses by the attending physician. Malpractice happens everywhere, since doctors are human. That is why people get second opinions.

A doctor in Canada, particularly a specialist, has the the power to order an immediate MRI or CT scan if they truly believe there is something to be discovered. People with trivial issues can be bumped on a moments notice. READ THE REST HERE

CITIZEN ALERT v1.228BOXER WRITES ME BACK

2007-06-30T02:47:00.000-07:00

I wrote both Feinstein and Boxer about the Reliable Replacement Warheads and how they should vote against it. Feinstein sent me a form e-mail saying she couldn't respond and I had to write to her from some other website or something. Boxer responds as usual. I like her. Read the original CA post about RRWs here.

Dear Mr. Berry:

Thank you for contacting me to voice your opposition to the Reliable Replacement Warhead (RRW), part of the Department of Energy's "Complex 2030" program. I appreciate hearing your views, and I share your concerns.

The Complex 2030 proposal calls for the repair of facilities at eight sites in seven states, including California, New Mexico, Georgia, South Carolina, Nevada, Texas, and Tennessee. It also calls for a newly configured nuclear weapon, the RRW, which would be designed to replace the entire U.S. nuclear arsenal.

As you may know, the Bush Administration has requested $119 million for RRW research and design work for fiscal year 2008. I have deep reservations about this funding request and the overall repercussions of the Complex 2030 plan.

On June 20, 2007, the House of Representatives voted not to fund RRW advancement efforts in FY08. I am pleased with the recent action taken in the House, and I hope similar funding restrictions will be approved in the Senate.

At a time when we are trying desperately to halt nuclear weapons programs in both Iran and North Korea , we must not jeopardize our commitment to nonproliferation as called for in the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons. Furthermore, Complex 2030 would have a price tag starting at $150 billion, and its potential for environmental damage is significant.

Please know that I will keep your views in mind as Congress considers this proposal. Thank you again for sharing your thoughts with me on this important issue.

Barbara Boxer
United States Senator

CITIZEN ALERT v1.227ELIZABETH EDWARDS ON HARDBALL

2007-06-27T00:49:00.000-07:00

CITIZEN ALERT v1.226NO MORE NUKES

2007-06-26T09:28:00.000-07:00

Again with the Federation of American Scientists (FAS) today - I love these guys. They have started a petition for you to ask your Senators to vote against Reliable Replacement Warheads (RRW). These are new nuclear weapons, first reported to be REPLACING our older ones, but here's some tidbits from the FAS on that:

· The RRW will not be significantly more reliable than current warheads. Current nuclear weapons are at worst 98% reliable and will continue in this state for the next 30-40 years. The warheads sit atop missiles that are reckoned to be about 90% or so reliable, which swamps the unreliability of the warheads themselves

· The RRW is not a “replacement.” Current plans call for using the RRW along with, not instead of, the current W-76.

· The RRW will not save money, especially because existing warhead types are not going to be retired but retained for decades.

· The real objective of the RRW is to maintain a nuclear weapons manufacturing base, forever. The Department of Energy, no matter how far into the future it looks, cannot envision an America without thousands of nuclear weapons (The US nuclear stockpile is currently 10,000 warheads).

SIGN PETITION HERE:
www.fas.org/cwp

READ THE FAS FULL ARTICLE HERE:
http://www.fas.org/efas/RRW.html

CITIZEN ALERT v1.225QUICK CHENEY PRIMER

2007-06-25T00:18:00.000-07:00

The whole story that is going down with Cheney right now for those of you that need a quick catch-me-up. Here's the story in a very brief nutshell.

The Office of the Vice President (OVP) is supposed to submit an annual report on all the material it has classified and declassified.

The Federation of American Scientist noted that the OVP hadn't done that since 2003. They had just stopped. So they filed a complaint with Information Security Oversight Office (ISOO), the executive branch organization that oversees the national security classification system.

When the ISOO told Cheney's office he'd have to comply. Cheney proposed ABOLISHING THE ENTIRE ISOO DEPARTMENT!! WTF!!?

Luckily there's oversight for that, and Cheney's neat idea was rejected by a review group.

Now, Cheney claims that his Vice PRESIDENTIAL office is neither part of the Executive Branch or the Legislative Branch and doesn't have to comply with the ISOO's orders of releasing what they are doing. Apparently, Cheney is just a completely different part of the government that no one else even knew existed!

ISOO Director J. William Leonard asked the Attorney General in January 2007 to render an interpretation that would resolve the dispute. Alberto has not responded. Imagine that!

CITIZEN ALERT v1.224MIPT

2007-06-24T13:28:00.000-07:00

Added new link on the right for the MIPT Terrorism Knowledge Base

The MIPT Terrorism Knowledge Base(TKB) is the one-stop resource for comprehensive research and analysis on global terrorist incidents, terrorism-related court cases, and terrorist groups and leaders. TKB covers the history, affiliations, locations, and tactics of terrorist groups operating across the world, with over 35 years of terrorism incident data and hundreds of group and leader profiles and trials. TKB also features interactive maps, statistical summaries, and analytical tools that can create custom graphs and tables.

CITIZEN ALERT v1.223ANOTHER REASON TO IMPEACH

2007-06-22T08:58:00.000-07:00

I'm putting in this full story here just as a historical bookmark so to speak. I think this is an incredibly important story that shows the Vice President's contempt for the American people, and why he should be in jail.

WP: Cheney defiant on classified material
Executive order ignored since 2003
By Peter Baker
The Washington Post

Vice President Cheney's office has refused to comply with an executive order governing the handling of classified information for the past four years and recently tried to abolish the office that sought to enforce those rules, according to documents released by a congressional committee yesterday.
Since 2003, the vice president's staff has not cooperated with an office at the National Archives and Records Administration charged with making sure the executive branch protects classified information. Cheney aides have not filed reports on their possession of classified data and at one point blocked an inspection of their office. After the Archives office pressed the matter, the documents say, Cheney's staff this year proposed eliminating it.
The dispute centers on a relatively obscure process but underscores a wider struggle waged in the past 6 1/2 years over Cheney's penchant for secrecy. Since becoming vice president, he has fought attempts to peer into the inner workings of his office, shielding an array of information such as the industry executives who advised his energy task force, details about his privately funded travel and Secret Service logs showing who visits his official residence.
The aggressive efforts to protect the operations of his staff have usually pitted Cheney against lawmakers, interest groups or media organizations, sometimes going all the way to the Supreme Court. But the fight about classified information regulation indicates that the vice president has resisted oversight even by other parts of the Bush administration. Cheney's office argued that it is exempt from the rules in this case because it is not strictly an executive agency.
‘Above the law’
"He's saying he's above the law," said Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-Calif.), chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, which released a series of correspondence yesterday outlining the situation. "It just seems to me this is arrogant and shows bad judgment."
Cheney's office declined to discuss what it called internal matters. "We are confident that we are conducting the office properly under the law," said spokeswoman Megan McGinn.
The Justice Department confirmed yesterday that it is looking into the issue. "This matter is currently under review in the department," said spokesman Erik Ablin, who declined to elaborate.
The standoff stems from an executive order establishing a uniform, government-wide system for safeguarding classified information. The order was first signed by President Bill Clinton in 1995 and was updated and reissued by President Bush in 2003. Under the order, an "entity within the executive branch that comes into the possession of classified information" must report annually how much it is keeping secret.
Cheney's office filed annual reports in 2001 and 2002 describing its classification activities but stopped filing in 2003, according to internal administration letters released yesterday. Cheney's office made the case that it is not covered because the vice president under the Constitution also serves as president of the Senate and therefore has both legislative and executive duties.
Inspection blocked
In 2004, the Archives' Information Security Oversight Office, a 25-member agency responsible for securing classified information, decided to conduct an on-site inspection of Cheney's office to see how sensitive material was handled. The vice president's staff, according to a letter Waxman sent Cheney, blocked the inspection.
After the Chicago Tribune reported last year that Cheney failed to report classification data, the Federation of American Scientists filed a complaint. J. William Leonard, director of the Archives' oversight office, sent two letters to Cheney's chief of staff, David S. Addington, requesting compliance with the executive order but received no replies. Leonard then wrote Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales in January asking him to render a legal ruling on whether the vice president is violating the order. Gonzales has not replied.
In an interview yesterday, Steven Aftergood, who directs the federation's Project on Governmental Secrecy, said the dispute concerns "a very narrow bit of information" but indicated a broader disregard for following the same rules as the rest of the executive branch. "By refusing to comply with these trivial instructions, the vice president undermines the integrity of the executive order," he said. "If it can be violated with impunity on a trivial point, then it can also be violated on more important matters."
Leonard, in his letters to Addington and Gonzales, argued that the interpretation that the Office of the Vice President is not an executive entity "could impede access to classified information by OVP staff, in that such access would be considered a disclosure outside the executive branch."
But Leonard may have angered Cheney's office with his persistence. The administration is conducting a review of the executive order, and Leonard told Waxman's staff that Cheney aides proposed amending the order to abolish the Archives oversight office and explicitly exempt the vice president from its requirements. The elimination of the office has been rejected, Waxman said.
Leonard did not return phone messages yesterday. Susan Cooper, a spokeswoman for the National Archives, said: "In carrying out the responsibilities of the National Archives Information Security Oversight Office, we will continue to be responsive to the concerns of all governmental parties." Cheney's press office refused to comment on the changes proposed to the executive order.

CITIZEN ALERT v1.222HILLARY BLOWS IT!

2007-06-19T09:09:00.000-07:00

Hillary Clinton has lost votes across the country. She has picked Celine Dion's "You and I" for her campaign song.

CITIZEN ALERT v1.221CONGRESS HAS SOUL

2007-06-18T00:37:00.000-07:00

Check out House Resolution 154 put forth by Rep. Steve Cohen from Tennesse. It recognizes Stax Records for enriching the Nation's Cultural life with "50 years of soul". I like. I like.

Recognizing Stax Records for enriching the Nation's Cultural life with `50 years of soul'.
Whereas Stax Records of Memphis, Tennessee, is an icon of the American recording industry;
Whereas Stax Records produced some of the earliest recordings by such soul music legends as Isaac Hayes, Otis Redding, the Staple Singers, Wilson Pickett, Luther Ingram, Albert King, the Bar-Kays, Booker T. and the M.G.'s, Johnnie Taylor, Rufus, and Carla Thomas, and many other artists whose work continues to exert a profound influence on popular music today;
Whereas Stax Records also produced important recordings by, among others, the Reverend Jesse Jackson, Bill Cosby, and Richard Pryor;
Whereas soul music is a uniquely American art form that continues to enrich the Nation's cultural life; and
Whereas, in 2007, the Memphis Convention and Visitors Bureau, Concord Music Group/Stax Records, and the Soulsville Foundation will be celebrating both American soul music and the 50th anniversary of the founding of Stax Records through their `50 Years of Soul' celebration: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the House of Representatives--

(1) recognizes the 50th anniversary of the founding of Stax Records;

(2) recognizes the important role played by Stax Records in launching the careers of many legendary soul music artists; and

(3) recognizes the continuing contributions and influence of soul music to America's cultural life.

CITIZEN ALERT v1.220FOX

2007-06-17T13:25:00.000-07:00

I thought of something the other day and I can't believe no one had thought of it before. The neocons love to play around with words these days like turning the Democratic party into the "Democrat" party. Why haven't we done that with Fox? From now on, it's no longer Fox News - it's the Fox Network. See how subtle and devious that is.

CITIZEN ALERT v1.219BUELLER?? BUELLER??

2007-06-12T09:47:00.000-07:00

Today I e-mailed my congressman to ask why he was absent on two votes on the floor. Just to let him know that I am paying attention.

CITIZEN ALERT v1.218PLAN B

2007-06-11T01:06:00.000-07:00

Human Rights Watch as just come out with a report documenting the forced removal of Tibetan herders to more urban areas. Those that complain are dealt with in a harsh manner.

“Some Chinese authorities claim that their forced urbanization of Tibetan herders is an enlightened form of modernization,” said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “But those same authorities didn’t bother to find out what Tibetans want, and have been heavy handed with those who have complained.”

"Enlightened...modernization". That's interesting. They are moving people who make a living at cattle and dumping them into cities where there's not much call for work as a herdsman. They are being forced to take "menial" labor jobs instead. HRW has accused the Chinese government, rightly I think, of suppressing Tibetan lives and trying to forcibly assimilate them into modern Chinese society.

I had a split awhile back at where I stood morally on the question of what role Western civilization OR Eastern for that matter had in making sure everyone on the planet had equal footing. What bothered me most was defining what was equal footing? Food, health, natural rights. Easy enough. Done. But where beyond that?

I thought it was wrong that a civilization that had sent people into space, developed new medicines, invented the internet, was teetering on the brink of Nano technolgy could exist on the same planet as people that still lived in mud huts in the dark wilderness and still thought fire was a pretty neat invention. I thought it unfair and our duty to raise our fellow humans up to "our" fullest potential.

Then it struck me one day while watching a documentary on some tribe somewhere that was perfectly content at the lives they led and had no real ambition to gain any knowledge that the "outside world" had to share with it that these people, these supposed "backwards" people are our Plan B.

Civilization is certainly not running as smoothly as it could. Countries are at war and we are teetering on the brink of sliding into bigger, longer and more devastating conflicts and who would survive all this - just the cockroaches? No, the people furtherest removed from it all. They are humanity's Plan B. If we were to blow ourselves up tomorrow, would they not save humanity from starting back at the amoeba stage? We would start up fresh from the nomadic and agricultural stages. That's a big head start.

So, China's forced modernization of the Tibetan herdsman I can not agree with, even with them saying it's for their own good, i.e. bringing them closer to medicines and urban economies. If the herdsman wanted to modernize then so be it and we should quickly reach out to help them achieve, but forcing the evolution of a group of humanity is, well, manipulating evolution and could prove more dangerous than you think.

What do you think?

CITIZEN ALERT v1.217IMMIGRATION

2007-06-06T10:08:00.000-07:00

You can read Senate Bill 1348 dealing with the immigration issue by clicking the link below. It will take you to the Library of Congress' THOMAS search. Very cool website. I go to it for all my legislative needs.

CLICK HERE:
Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2007

My main criticism of this bill is the fact that it increases personnel on the enforcement side as in border agents, marshals, investigators in alien smuggling, recruiting former military persons, and so on. It does nothing - as far as I've read - to increase the personnel in the office where we process the legal immigrants to speed up the process so everyone doesn't get impatient and enter the country illegally. I think the man power is not so much misplaced as it is lopsided on the enforcement end.

CITIZEN ALERT v1.216IMMIGRATION

2007-06-05T00:24:00.000-07:00

Watched my representative Congressman Xavier Becerra tonight on the Tavis Smiley show talk about the Immigration reform and the politics behind it. I was glad that my rep expressed my same views on the matter and they were: that we must be realistic in dealing with the immigrants who are here in our country doing work that we as a country benefit from tremendously.

He made the excellent point that while the illegal immigrants are law breakers, they are law breakers in response to first incident law breakers and that is the American people who hire them. These workers are not flooding over the border forcing themselves into a tiered labor market; they are responding to the offer of work - and I'll go one further than Becerra - they are responding 1) to the offer of employment by Americans and 2) by the demand that Americans have for certain prices when it comes to their food. Do all these workers pay income tax? No. Do they make up for it by lowering the cost of dozens and dozens of items in your kitchen? More than make up for it.

And what Becerra stressed most is what I stress over and over again to people I get into debates with about this and that is yes, they are breaking our man made laws, but they are working for their survival, they are scraping by to put food on their table for their kids and that Natural Law of survival supersedes any law put forth by man or government.

Soon to come a talk about Ethanol.

CITIZEN ALERT v1.215DEMOCRATIC DEBATE

2007-06-04T00:30:00.000-07:00

Quick run down review of the debate.

Biden again was the straight talker - telling it like it is. I thought he knocked it out of the park more than a few times.

Obama did well, but still is Mr. Vague when he talks about issues. Not as much as he was last debate, but it's still there. He's learning.

Hillary did as well as she usually does. No worse. No better. Which probably still leaves her out front.

Gravel and Kucinich were ostracized to outer realms of the screen. I couldn't believe Kucinich said he wouldn't assassinate Osama Bin Laden and he wanted to eliminate ALL nuclear weapons. Man, that guy has guts! I love him! He pretty much nailed the coffin shut though on his campaign with those answers, but wow! I like a peace candidate who's unwavering and that Osama question was designed to trap Kucinich plain and simple. Instead of back pedaling he walked proudly straight into it with no regrets. That's a leader. Still no chance in hell though. :)

I thought everyone did a good job at sticking together and not splintering the party right there on stage. Obama had the great line about the English language question being designed to divide them. It was a stupid question about a stupid issue. And I hand it to Clinton for stepping in and going at it on the legal angle explaining the difference between a national language and an "official language".

So far on the CNN site, the after debate poll shows viewers voting Clinton the winner of the debate, and then voting Biden as the one who knew most about the issues. This is how stupid some people are. The admittedly most intelligent person doesn't win the debate. Come on!

CITIZEN ALERT v1.214G-8 PROTESTS IN GERMANY

2007-06-03T01:48:00.000-07:00

While the news is covering the "almost" terror attack. Here's what is going on elsewhere.

CITIZEN ALERT v1.213DEMS BACKING DOWN

2007-06-02T11:29:00.000-07:00

As you've heard by now the DEMS talk a good game during elections but then they completely fold when confronted with any tough decisions that might possibly reflect on their abilities - not to govern - but to get reelected.

Here's what they need to do: STOP TRYING TO GET REPUBLICANS TO VOTE FOR YOU!!

The REPUBS know who their base is. They speak directly to them. Their messages are targeted directly at their base. They could care less what liberals in the Blue States think of them. In fact, when we are addressed in some Cap Hill speech, it's usually in an insulting or condescending manner. The REPUBS don't care if the liberals like them. They don't care if they are losing the "Blue" vote. In fact, they're hard at work making sure less DEMS get a chance to vote in the 2008 elections.

When the DEMS blinked you heard the same thing from everywhere: "They don't want to be seen as being weak on terror, or weak on that". Seen by WHO??!! Seen by me? I voted for them? I know what they have to do. I've called my Senators and Representatives and told them CUT THE FUNDING!!! There's plenty of money out there to shut things down. You're not leaving anyone out in the foxhole trapped with no bullets in their guns like in some bad John Wayne movie.

If their worried about "someone" seeing them as being weak on anything it's only the Republican voters that would think that, and guess what? THEY'RE NOT GOING TO VOTE FOR YOU ANYWAY!! Stop trying to steal red voters away from the REPUBS and concentrate on signing up NEW Democratic voters. I would hazard to guess that there's more unregistered DEM voters than REPUB voters. Just a hunch. GET THEM REGISTERED. Democrats must register more voters than the Republicans are plotting on "scrubbing". That's how we're going to win the White House - by VOTES not by being seen as pro military.

CITIZEN ALERT v1.212THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

2007-05-26T23:33:00.000-07:00

Click to see larger image

CITIZEN ALERT v1.211CITY SIDEWALKS, BUSY SIDEWALKS...

2007-05-23T01:03:00.000-07:00

http://www.christmasfuture.org

CITIZEN ALERT v1.210NO TIMETABLES!!

2007-05-22T18:38:00.000-07:00

Democrats are COWARDS!!

CITIZEN ALERT v1.209MAN, I LOVE A GOOD PROTEST!!

2007-05-18T20:23:00.000-07:00

CITIZEN ALERT v1.208FEINGOLD-REID AMENDMENT

2007-05-16T08:40:00.000-07:00

This morning I called Sen. Feinstein's office to make sure she was voting for the Feingold-Reid Amendment. She did. Yeah!

The Feingold-Reid plan immediately moves troops into protection, training and counterterrorism missions. It also enforces a March 2008 deadline to end the war by cutting off funds for military operations not carrying out those missions on April 1, 2008. There are something like 400,000 Iraqi security forces now. That's more troops than the first Generals requested to initially invade Iraq. It's time to finish their training and get back on track, i.e. finding Bin Laden in Pakistan.